Inadvertent as the plan might have developed, the career path that led Steve Sarkisian back to USC could not have played out better.

When it comes to stepping into the shoes of a legend, it’s always best to replace the guy who replaced the icon rather than be the first in line to assume the throne.

Now one step removed from Pete Carroll’s shadow rather than hovering directly below it, Sarkisian steps into a rebooted level of expectation at Troy that now understands Pac-12 supremacy is no longer a foregone conclusion and that national championship contention first means conquering conference powers like Stanford and Oregon and emerging foes at UCLA, Arizona State and Arizona.

Sarkisian steps onto a landscape quite a bit different than the one Carroll handed off to Lane Kiffin, partly due to the cyclical nature of college football but also the repercussions of the NCAA sanctions USC absorbed off the Reggie Bush scandal and the errors of Kiffin’s ways.

The USC fans who appropriately understand the different dynamics won’t immediately expect national championships under Sarkisian.

“We will not shy away from expectations. We will embrace them,” Sarkisian said.

That’s fine, just so long as we know it might take time to meet them, too.

Not because Sarkisian isn’t a capable coach or that it was a mistake to hire him.

It’s just being honest with the current state of the Pac-12, which, thanks to the added income generated by its own television network, was able to attract and hire high-caliber, innovative coaches everywhere from Pullman to Tempe over the past four years.

That isn’t to discount the empire Carroll built at USC, but the climb back to the top certainly seems steeper now than it did when Carroll arrived in Los Angeles 14 years ago.

All of which makes the Sarkisian hire an even a wiser decision by USC than first imagined.

The transition should be seamless given Sarkisian’s offense is essentially the same USC has utilized for years now - albeit potentially more dynamic and vibrant with Sarkisian calling the shots rather than Kiffin.

That might not have been the case had USC hired Kevin Sumlin, whose spread offense might have taken a prolonged time to adequately implement given the personnel on hand – or any other coach who runs a considerably dissimilar offense than Sarkisian.

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Sumlin caught a huge break at Texas A&M when he landed in College Station and discovered Johnny Manziel sitting at his doorstep. Manziel is the quintessential spread quarterback, and no matter how hard you look, you won’t find a similar trigger man at USC.

Who knows how long it would have taken Sumlin to find his ideal quarterback? Or how long it would have taken linemen and skill players trained in a traditional offense to adapt to a completely new way of doing things?

Sarkisian arrives with no such learning curve, and everything he needs to conduct a suitable offense seems on hand at USC.

Additionally, reaching too far to find a coach might have also set back recruiting in ways USC simply can’t afford given the ongoing scholarship sanctions.

The Trojans needed someone already well-versed with the recruiting base, and no one among the reported candidates covers that element as completely as Sarkisian. He grew up in the center of USC’s recruiting home and has spent almost his entire coaching career mining it, cultivating relationships that would have taken an outsider years to replicate.

And with time of the essence as USC looks up to Oregon and Stanford and UCLA and Arizona State in the conference standings, did USC really have the luxury of waiting that process out?

There should be no transition for Sarkisian, who is intimately connected West Coast recruiting and is already spreading his USC message.

“We are here to win championships,” Sarkisian said. “We’re going to recruit players with the talent and desire to do something special.”